“It’s clear now this offseason is not going to have that dynamic signing that we tried to do with Price and Heyward,” Mozeliak explains. “There isn’t anything now that we’re chasing with a nine-figure contract. We can take the time to see what we have in the players we control. Obviously, we’re always open to adjusting.”

While that doesn’t eliminate the chance that the Cardinals could still add a notable free agent, it casts doubt on the likelihood of adding any of the top remaining bats on the market. Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, Chris Davis and Alex Gordon — the latter two of whom have both been linked to St. Louis — all have cases to exceed $100MM on their next contracts. While USA Today’s Bob Nightengale said after Heyward’s agreement with the Cubs that the Cardinals would turn their focus to Gordon, Goold now writes that Mozeliak and his staff don’t consider Gordon an alternative to Heyward. Goold likens the scenario to the Price/Zack Greinke market, noting that the Cards didn’t jump into the mix for the latter upon seeing the former sign in Boston.

The Cardinals are still looking for upgrades to the pitching staff, whether in the form of an additional starting pitcher or a bullpen arm, writes Goold, though he notes that the market for starting pitching may need to change before St. Louis enters the fray for the top remaining names. The team has been linked to Mike Leake and Wei-Yin Chen, though Goold specifically notes that Leake’s market may have escalated beyond the Cardinals’ comfort zone.

Price and Heyward were considered to be exceptions to the Cardinals’ typically measured approach to free agency, according to Goold. Though the loss of Heyward stings more given the fact that he’ll head to a division rival, it doesn’t appear as though there was any lack of effort on the Cardinals’ behalf. Reports have already indicated that the Cardinals offered Heyward a larger overall guarantee, and Goold adds that St. Louis’ deal, too, included an opt-out clause. (Of course, Heyward’s agreement with the Cubs is said to contain two opt-out clauses and afford him a higher annual value.) Having been spurned by Heyward, St. Louis figures to enter the season with an outfield trio of Matt Holliday, Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty (although Mozeliak said nothing to suggest that trade scenarios would not be entertained).

In the rotation, Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Jaime Garcia should all have spots locked down, while lefties Tyler Lyons and Marco Gonzales could factor in at the back end of the mix. Further additions shouldn’t be ruled out, although Goold does note that there’s a chance the only further signing would be to bring someone to camp to compete for a job in Spring Training. That, again, doesn’t necessarily preclude the Cards from upgrading via trade, though neither Mozeliak nor Goold indicated that said scenario is likely, either.

I think just waiting until mid season when teams like the A’s are out of it Reddick becomes a cheaper potentially better option as well. Overpaying for CarGo right now when the Cardinals don’t know how the rotation will fare just seems like insane fan logic.

Can’t say the A’s RF name but it makes more sense to wait until the A’s are out of it and a cheaper better option like him is on the table, Overpaying for CarGo now does not make sense as they do not know how the rotation is going to do.

I don’t get the love on Adams so maybe someone can explain it to me. I see a 27-year old first baseman who looks the part of a power hitter, but who hasn’t really put up the numbers to go with the look. He has league-average on base skills with below average power numbers at the big league level. He was never an elite prospect, though he did show that power in the minors — but is that it?

Are we still dreaming on a guy who hit 32 home runs in Double A five years ago? Because from what ‘I’ve seen, that’s not the major league version of Matt Adams. And at 27, if he doesn’t show that type of power this year, then I think it might be time to put the visions of that guy to rest.

kbarr, I’m with you. Blackmon has been an extremely productive player, can play all three OF positions and play them well, is younger than CarGo and owed less over more time. He is also said to be cheaper on the trade market than a Carlos Gonzalez. Cardinals, go get Charlie Blackmon and an innings eater like Mike Leake and then go focus on some depth.

kbarr, I’m with you. Blackmon has been an extremely productive player, can play all three OF positions and play them well, is younger than CarGo and owed less over more time. He is also said to be cheaper on the trade market than a Carlos Gonzalez. Cardinals, go get Charlie Blackmon and an innings eater like Mike Leake and then go focus on some depth.

Patience my friends! The Cardinals model and philosophy is very consistent. They will not overspend. They do not act rashly. I believe they are comfortable with what they have. They have faith that one of Gonzales, Cooney, or Lyons will be the fifth starter. Holliday, Grichuk, Piscotty, and the underrated Pham are formidable. Adams and a healthy Moss at first. The infield is solid with Gyrrko as the super-sub. Pena is an upgrade behind Molina. The bullpen is deep and a healthy starting staff can be dynamic. Bring on the little bears and the bucs…the Birds will be ready!

Whatever your popping I’ll take two this team will win 75 with all the aged players and the injuries looming doesnt anybody remember the wall the team at at about win 90 last year the whole rotation collapsed and the pen wore out and we finishe near the bottom offensively now we are down Lynn to TJ surgery we lost lackey an innings eater with no improvement oh yeah Broxton . Also losing Heyward and gaining Holiday isn’t going to help Adams has so many holes in his swing it could Swiss cheese and forget about moss first base is a toilet. Peralta hits into dp’s and loves those slow rollers to second Wong is either pouty or good he’s a question mark they bring in Pena and Gyrko to fix this mess and sell us a line there was a time systems become outmoded coaches and owners and GMs gotta go. Paul Brown, Tom Landry, Bill Walsh The entire Red Sox office even the Yankees. The Cardinal way needs to adapt or die and they ain’t exactly adapting they are on life support. In the Minors we have one guy and then the Cupboard is bare. Cheap Mo and DEWALLET just wants a a full stadium a pocket full of tv cash and morons to buy eight dollar hotdogs 9 dollar beers and five dollar pretzels and they’ll sign Gyrko’s and Broxtons forever! I’ve been a fan since 64 but this is the WORST OFFSEASON EVER ALL THAT TV MONEY THEY NEEDED HEYWARD AND PRICE THEN GO NO WE DONT WE’LL JUST SIGN UTILITY PLAYERS AND LEAVE THOSE HOLES NFILLED INSTEAD OF GOING AFTER ANOTHER TOP TIER OF AND PITCHER SO WE STILL HAVE THOSE NEEDS BUT THEY WONT DO ANYTHING BUT SIGN GYRKO BROXTON PENA AND A WAIVER GUY NOW THATS FAN APPRECIATION!

I am getting tired of reading so many posts about how Mo needs to get Davis or another big bat just because we lost out on Price and Heyward. I am excited about the team, as currently constructed. The pitching is dynamic! For all of those that constantly worry about injuries, they happen to every team and to many pitchers, so I view the Cards pitching as awesome and I think they have one of the best and youngest staffs in the league. Gyorko could turn into our Zobrist but 7 years younger and cheaper. Our offense is banking on upside of the young guys and there is risk, but I am intrigued by what a healthy Pham could offer. He looked dynamic in the playoffs.

Point is, Mo should not make reactionary moves. Mo is a forward thinking individual. In business and baseball the best are able to see what is happening and make moves to take advantage of market inefficiencies. The teams that react to other signings are the teams that regret making those moves. Finally, when McGwire left and we didn’t get Giambi, they signed Tino as a reaction to what took place in the market. If you recall, that was a bad decision and his years here were regrettable.

People around “Zobrist” way too liberally. Every team’s utility guy is going to be their “Zobrist.” The problem with that assessment is that the overwhelming majority of utility players are utility players because they’re not good enough to start everyday. That’s what makes Zobrist unique… He DOES start everyday, and his numbers are excellent. The only reason he moves around so much is because 1) He came up with Maddon who basically makes everyone play multiple positions and 2) He’s an above-average defender at 4-5 positions.

But come on – Jedd Gyroko and his career .293 on-base percentage is not going to be the Cardinals “Zobrist. He’s just going to be another league-average utility guy.

I’m happy with 2016 as a year to evaluate kids for the first 3 months and figure out who’s worth a stay in the majors, rather than locking down some expensive and iffy free agents.

None of the available guys this year, next year or any year are necessarily who you want to lock up past their mid-30’s. Teams are getting better at re-signing their own guys and we’re getting better (but not quite enough really) at recognizing the inevitable decline of the over-30 MLB’er, and as-is there aren’t a whole lot of guys hitting the market before their peak seasons.

So, the Cardinals have the smart approach. Let kids get at bats, sign those guys to deals that keep them around through their good years, let some other team pay for their decline instead of the other way around. I think it’s the only way to build a long-term successful team right now honestly. If you can’t believe in and develop your draft picks, there’s a different adjustment to be made that doesn’t involve spending 200-300 million on free agents.

This. The Cardinals have been logjammed for a couple years now. 2016 can be a great time to give these guys a chance to shine, and evaluate exactly what fruit this stacked farm system is ready to bear.

If anything, this offseason has proved an arms race with teams like the Cubs will be expensive and difficult. The last bastion of a level playing field is the renewable resource that is the farm system. Sprinkle the roster with key signings as necessary, but re-establish the pipeline of young talent that Luhnow so effectively maintained. This gives the team a crop of talent to either graduate or trade for the pieces needed to beat those bears (which Stephen Colbert noted many times are the greatest threat to America (and it’s pastime)).

Cards are the most profitable team in baseball, or close to it. They’re not “letting the kids play,” they’re just refusing to lower their profit margin and therefore letting their competitive window close prematurely.

Seems like a good year for the Cardinals to remain competitive but also re-tool and evaluate, Yadier Molina is a major point of emphasis do they let him catch fewer games this year in hopes he comes back 100 percent for 2017? The Cardinals always know they can be active at the trade deadline if needed.

The Cubs, on paper, are significantly better than the Cardinals. But, as a Cubs fan, I said the same thing heading into the 2004 season. And not only did the Cardinals manage to win 102 games out of nowhere, but the Cubs got decimated by injuries to Wood and Prior and struggled to an 89-win season.

Do I see that happening again? Absolutely not. The Cardinals don’t have Pujols. The Cubs season is unlikely to be derailed by 1 or 2 injuries. But again – I didn’t see that happening in 2004. So time will tell…

Assuming that some of the Cubs will experience a sophomore slump is a gamble still. If I were the Cardinal’s GM, I’d rather bolster my lineup to account for the possibility that those Cubs rookies actually progress rather than regress.

I still see St. Louis picking up an innings-eater type of starter. Their rotation is brittle and shallow. But I agree with Niekro; this would be a good time to let some youngsters play and see if they can really stick full-time. The Pirates are following a similar strategy. Let the Cubs take on all the risk with big contracts for the old (Lackey, Zorilla) and the over-valued (Heyward).

Big contracts aren’t a thing for the Cardinals… Not in their philosophy. They’ve done well with drafts and a lot of their success in the last few years is attributed to good drafting and managing of pitchers. Alot of that credit surely goes to Yadi.

I think the Cards will be fine. Some big losses though, can’t argue that.

I’m not sure it’s that big contracts aren’t in their DNA, it’s just that they want a contract that will look reasons the whole way through. If it’s for the right guy and the right price, I could see them signing a guy to 200M+ (obviously not this offseason anymore)

Exactly. They want a good player and a good guy for the clubhouse. Don’t want to cripple themselves a few years into a bad contract. This was why the Jays had the 5 year rule (which I partially agree with).

I’m not impressed with the Cleveland Blue Jays’ signings so far though…

We have to get some pop in this lineup, Matt Carpenter as good as he is shouldn’t be the leader in every offensive category. And does anyone truly believe we can count on Garcia staying healthy all year? Cubs just stepped up big time, we can’t stay pat, I trust mozeliak and management but cmon mannn.

The power is there. Holliday, Grichuk, Piscotty, Adams, Wong, Peralta and Carpenter could easily notch 140 HRs. Add another 25-30 from Pham, Goryko and Moss, and the total will be above league average.

What the Red Birds need is health. The 4 first round draft choices will be intriguing. If.they strike gold with 2 of them, the off-season will be a success.

You should obviously be worried about Holiday. I don’t think that guy has a chance of staying healthy… and your rotation is a lot thinner than it was a year ago, having already lost Lynn for the season and Lackey to the Cubs. It was much easier to get by in 2015 when the Cardinals opened camp with six high-end starters. Losing Wainwright was more a blow to the playoff rotation, but the five that stayed healthy easily made up the top-5 regular-season rotation in baseball.

The cards should leave the outfield because of the talent out there in grichuck piscotty, and pham. Instead of going for a big name starter you have three talented starters in Wainwright, wacha, and martinez and a fourth in Jaime Garcia when he’s not injured. Instead of signing a big name or mid starter they should sign an innings eater guy that is left handed to balance out the rotation like mark beuhrle.

Guess Mo has no intention of improvement and wants to go with rookies and Holliday. We the same as no 1st basemen. Guess the front office is tired of going to the playoffs and since they can’t get over the hump to and in the WS. Just take break and pocket the money. Don’t publish the the Cardinals are going to be players in the market and resign a no hit first baseman and a rag arm pitcher. That didn’t offer help at the deadline. You knew going in nothing would happen. The fans will get to see minor leagues and no offense like last year, puking up in the playoffs. All this increased prices or the same. For watching a inferior team.

Welcome to 3rd place. Moz is a joke of a gm everyone knew what it would take to land Price and he offered 5 million less. And when it fell through it was the same old bs line “we came close but it wasn’t good enough. Same thing happened when we lost Pujols. If your not going to spend the money you probably shouldn’t talk about “payroll muscle”.

Mo knew what it would take to sign price he almost had him for 30 million less than what Boston offered. Boston came in on the say price was about to accept the cardinals offer and bumped it up 30 million to ensure that they would sign him.

How would you call that almost had him for 30 million less then what Boston offered? I didn’t see anything that said he almost signed with the Cardinals over Bostons extra 30 million dollar offer? It may have been a situation where he had the same offer for both teams and he was leaning towards Cardinals before Boston upped their offer, but that wouldn’t mean he almost signed with the Cards with a big money difference.

Nightengale reported that David Price woke up one morning thinking he was about to sign with the Cardinals only to have Boston increase their offer… Of course, this is Nightengale – he slobbers over the Cardinals.

with all the millions that the cards are saving by not fielding a competitive team this year they could become major players in the Caribbean and step up there programs there. That could be great money spent and with teams like the cubs being on restrictions for a year or 2 they could be the new big dogs in that area. Then they could make the usual gamble on the draft with there pics and 2 of the 3 top cubs pic’s this could be a good thing not being competitive then next year they can draft in the top 15 or so.

This is exactly what I was saying in my comments in previous Heyward related articles. It was Heyward or nothing.

That money doesn’t go anywhere now. Their war chest doesn’t build. The money goes to wherever DeWitt wants (DeWallet’s pockets), but most certainly not to payroll.

I’m real tired of hearing about their “war chest” “dry powder” and “willingness to stretch” – they are all blatant lies to the fans. Not sure why I got excited and believed the hype at the start of the offseason.

I think the only way this changes is with the team missing the playoffs and fan attendance noticeably dropping. The former may happen, given their projected win total of ~85 and the Cubs of ~100. The latter – still likely not to happen even then.

And before anyone calls me out as a “laughable” or “special” (i.e. retarded) fan – save your personal insults, I am just a brutally honest fan.

They have lost 12.7 games by WAR in losing Heyward, Lynn, and Lackey. Sure, let’s say they gain 4.5 from a full season of Waino. So…. where is that remaining 6 games coming from? Oh yeah, don’t forget that Heyward and Lackey went to the Cubs, so go ahead and give a +4 bump since Heyward starts in CF/RF and a +1 bump for Lackey.

The bargain basement crowd at red bird central win again even though on paper the birds look like a 2 or 3 place finish for the FORSEEABLE future. The roster is very old or baby young and doesn’t really scare anybody. Adams has Swiss cheese for a swing and Holiday is an anchor with his contract guaranteed no trade plus Molina spent last two seasons overcoming injuries. He’s clearly aging and Wayno is showing his plus the starting rotation not sending shivers . Dewitt and Mo are trying to hide the fact that Cards are REBUILDING and it’s going to be hard because the minor league cupboard is bare at the top so it’s another reason Dewitt and Mo need to stop being so freakin cheap. The signings they did make Broxton, Pena, Gyrko and waiver pick up Aquino look desperate and cheap and pathetic . Just glad I’m not a Rams fan with this Cards off season and the Rams leaving town it’s not good to be a St. Louis sports fan bye bye Rams. I’m a Packers fan myself but love the Cards since 1964! Dewitt spend some money or at least be honest your writing off the next 3-4 years to overhaul or REBUILDING the Cardinal way because it’s a long process to rebuild the Cardinal way!

I’m good with not signing Heyward for that amount of money. The way Piscoty played at the end of the season would indicate he is complimentary to Heywards skills. But…..as a season ticket holder…I don’t see how staying pat will be the solution. Too many injury if’s on too many players. Loss of 2 starting pitchers. Age on Holiday, Molina,

You sir are a realistic cards fan. There is no way this team can be competitive in the NL Central or win the 2nd wild card spot as they are currently constructed. The impact players that could help you are mostly gone except for upton and cespedes. In my opinion they need to offer cespedes a 5 year 108 mil contract and see if he will bite. He is your best hope at a 90 win season with signing casmere (sp?) or leake and hope for few injuries. The franchise players are in hard decline Molina and Holliday and this franchise needs a new face.

I for one am not happy that we were not able to re-sign Heyward, if for no other reason than that we gave up so much to get him. I think what seems to be lost in this is what a bad position the Tavares tragedy left this team. Beyond the personal tragedy, it started a domino effect that has led to the Cardinals lack of current flexibility. Mo traded Miller and Kaminsky for Heyward because he didn’t feel he had a viable alternative in the outfield last year. Now, when we need a good pitcher to replace Lynn next year, Miller is in Arizona.with LaRussa. Had the Tavares accident not happened, we would have a future elite Center/Right fielder to go along with Piscotty, Grichuk, and Holliday. In fact, we could probably trade one of them for first base help. We would also have a rotation of Wainwright, Wacha, Martinez, Garcia, and Miller, with plenty of depth in Gonzales, Cooney, Lyons, Reyes, and Kaminsky.

That’s why, as much as I hated to see the Cards not do anything this winter, I think they are better off not making any big moves right now. Giving away more of the farm on a trade for CarGo or paying out big bucks for an older guy like Gordon, or a second tier pitcher like Leake isn’t going to help them in the long run. Maybe it helps you keep in the hunt in the division next year, but at what price? The Cardinals took a big hit in losing Taveras, and they need to make the right moves, or they may be out of contention for quite a while.

Correct. Cards traded Miller and Tyrell Jenkins for one year of Heyward and 2 months of Walden (hopefully they’ll get more than that but it doesn’t look good). Of course, the thing Cards fans need to realize is that whether the Cardinals would have signed Heyward or not, they were trading Miller for one year of Heyward, period. The media spun it by saying the value of the deal is dependent on whether he re-signs for St. Louis but that was bull. They would have had the opportunity to sign him whether they traded for him or not. The only added value in that trade is that the Cardinals get a compensation pick in the draft.

You aren’t looking for Jack YOUVE shut down the shop and going with that aging clunker of a team sprinkled with unproven kids thanks Mo you cretin you cheapskate you owed Wayno and yadi and carp and even Holiday better than going out like this just grabbing your bulging bag of tv money and running you’ve run up the white flag the honorable thing is for you and DEWALLET to fall on your swords I’m actually ashamed at the garbage you signed to try and fool the fans into thinking you were improving the team garbage I am ashamed of the front office for the first time since 1964 a pox upon you and DEWALLET! Know sell the team to someone who wants to win not just make money and mo apply for the Cubs job God knows you did well by them!